This was a fount I bought as part of a very neglected 220. I decided to buy a replacement but what with Covid and the rest of it I thought I'd clean a few things up and have a look through my spares. After I stripped it down it got forgotten about (you all know how life takes over!) and I assumed it would have started to rust but no... it seems to be plated... so I gave it a polish and it came up pretty nicely. I was told that if the plating went wrong the founts were reused and sent to get sprayed over, so I think that might have happened with this one. So far I have a fount, control valve and frame which means I'll have to start looking for the rest!
Thanks. I meant to add that... It's stamped 12 62 on the bottom which makes it a C... I think... or maybe a D or an E. Any suggestions?
Nice fount there @ColinG Now the hunt for the rest of the parts. With COVID-19 it’s going to be an interesting journey sourcing them. I’ll have a look in my bits bin for any 220E parts. Cheers Pete
To be perfectly honest any parts from a C up to an E would be fine. I'm not a purists and it'll only be for my use. I won't be selling it.
I've collected together the 220 parts I've got and have been promised enough of the rest to hopefully make a complete lantern - thanks @Norman and @AussiePete . The collar/frame support you see here had to be repaired and in all honesty I'm not going to trust it on a finished lantern, particularly as there's a much better one on the way. It was an interesting excerise in repair though.
The original lantern had been left hanging in a tree for a year by the time I got it so the frame and collar were in a pretty bad state. It took a long time to chemically remove the rust and after degreasing and drying thoroughly I painted it silver. Once the silver is really, really dry I'll use a fuel resistant lacquer before I assemble it.
That's an interesting find--presumably a fount for a US 237 that didn't make the cut since 220's weren't nickel plated by that point. In Canada, you'll find the odd fount for the green-painted 335 and red-painted 220E that has been flash-nickled--or at least that's the term people use for them. The red or green paint comes off them in sheets. Coleman's paint during that era could be dodgy enough, nevermind trying to get a bite on nickel. I'm not sure why Coleman would do that, other than to use up founts for 339's and 236/237's that weren't meeting the QC standards...maybe? Mike.
Interesting info, thanks. The green was pretty well adhered to the nickel plating but the surface under it seemed dull so I assumed it was raw steel. It was only when it didn't rust in my unheated workshop that I realized it had to be a plating of some kind.
